Posts Tagged ‘Centerline’
Chinese Drywall News Alerts
| Miami-Dade Officials Announce Drywall Assistance Poder 360 Miami-Dade County homeowners with Chinese drywall issues will receive financial help from the county on the toxic situation. County officials have reported … |
| Drywall victims get break MiamiHerald.com … are related to faulty Chinese drywall won’t have to pay any permitting fees to repair their homes, Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez said Thursday. … |
| Property appraiser trying to figure way to help tainted drywall victims Palm Beach Post More Money news » From The Post and AP By Jennifer Sorentrue More than 500 Palm Beach County homeowners whose property is tainted with Chinese drywall have … |
| Miami-Dade to help Chinese drywall victims Bizjournals.com Homeowners dealing with Chinese drywall can also try to get their property taxes reduced. Unlike the county permit program, which mostly applies to … |
| IRS: Tax deduction may go to homeowners with tainted Chinese drywall Scripps News The IRS statement comes a week after federal investigators issued a study concluding that there was a “strong association” between tainted Chinese drywall … |
| Gulfport Chinese drywall lawsuit could be among first in federal court WLOX By Trang Pham-Bui – bio | email GULFPORT, MS (WLOX) – A Gulfport couple hopes its lawsuit against a major manufacturer of defective Chinese drywall will be … |
| Congress Takes on Chinese Drywall Housing Wire These are the latest legislative actions taken by Congress to address the Chinese drywall situation. A Consumer Product Safety Commission-led task force, … |
| House Passes Chinese Drywall Resolution RealEstateRama … resolving this problem,†said Posey who recently toured several homes in Indian River County that have been affected by contaminated Chinese drywall. … |
| House Passes Glenn Nye’s Resolution to Aid Toxic Drywall Victims RealEstateRama … in Hampton Roads affected by toxic drywall. “I have seen firsthand the physical, emotional, and financial burden toxic Chinese drywall creates,†said … |
Probes into Chinese drywall mount, but yield few answers for homeowners
By ALLISON ROSS
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Friday, March 27, 2009
BOYNTON BEACH — Jimmy Diamond says he was flying high back in 2005. He and his wife had good jobs. They had just purchased a two-story, $600,000 home in an upscale Boynton Beach neighborhood.
But now Diamond rubs his face and laughs tiredly when asked what his plans for the future are.
Plasterboard problems
Although not every home in a development has problematic Chinese drywall, these communities have confirmed some properties were built with the material.
Woodfield, Vero Beach
Promenade at Tradition, Port St. Lucie
Cobblestone Creek, Boynton Beach
Mariner Village Townhomes, Stuart
“We have no plan,” Diamond said. “All I know is I’m screwed because I can’t sell my house.”
The Diamonds, who had lined up a buyer for their home, discovered that the development they live in, Cobblestone Creek, has houses with tainted Chinese drywall.
“We had to tell the buyer,” Diamond said. “They backed out the next day.”
The Chinese drywall controversy is snowballing: Investigators from the Consumer Product Safety Commission were in West Florida on Thursday testing homes with the suspect plasterboard. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection is testing to determine whether the material can safely be tossed into landfills. And the Florida attorney general’s office has launched an investigation into Chinese drywall manufacturer Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin Co. – a subsidiary of German company Knauf Gips KG – and drywall distributor L&W Supply Corp. – a subsidiary of U.S.-based USG Corp. – to determine whether any deceptive practices may have occurred in sales or marketing of Chinese-made drywall.
Used extensively in rebuilding following the hurricanes of 2004 and during the housing boom, Chinese-made drywall was an alternative to the U.S. product, which was in short supply. However, Florida Department of Health guidelines suggest the problem could go back to 2000.
It’s now believed that the material is throwing off foul-smelling sulfuric gas when exposed to heat and humidity. Those gases are also suspected as the cause of corroding wires, pipes, home fixtures and even jewelry.
On Monday, the Florida Department of Health released preliminary results of tests of Chinese drywall that eventually should help determine whether the tainted drywall poses a health risk. The results showed higher levels of organic material and sulfuric compounds – particularly strontium sulfide – than U.S.-made plasterboard.
State toxicologist David Krause said several more tests need to be conducted.
In the meantime, homeowners are left to try to figure out for themselves what to do next.
Thursday night, a group of about 150 Boynton Beach homeowners gathered outside the Cobblestone Creek community’s clubhouse to hear a presentation from a group of lawyers.
Some knew they had drywall in their homes; some weren’t sure. Others were simply scared.
“We put our life savings in this house,” said Tonya Radi, a resident in Cobblestone Creek who moved in about eight months ago. “This is the house we thought we’d live in for the next 20 years. What if it’s not healthy? I’m pregnant right now. Or what if people move out, what will that do to my (homeowners association) fees?”
A number of homeowners in the section of Cobblestone Creek built by developer Northstar Homes have complained of air conditioning coils that failed, strange odors and tarnished jewelry. A few have torn out pieces of the drywall in their attic to find the name of a Chinese drywall manufacturer printed on the back, they said.
Northstar did not return calls for comment
State and federal authorities are helping to find answers for homeowners, but all say that answers may be a long time coming.
A team of investigators – including an electrical engineer and a toxicologist – from the Consumer Product Safety Commission was in Southwest Florida beginning Thursday, testing affected homes for electrical corrosion risks and health risks associated with the drywall, commission spokesman Joe Martyak confirmed.
He said he didn’t know whether the investigators would soon be looking at homes in Palm Beach County or the Treasure Coast, where state officials have received reports.
“The government doesn’t know enough to give us an answer about whether this is safe or not, so I’m not going to put my children at risk,” said Alli Sirota, a Cobblestone Creek homeowner.
She has two small children and another one on the way, she said, and so she and her husband are hiring movers to move into a temporary place.
“I just need to get out,” she said. “I need to think about this one small step at a time or I will go nuts.”
Jimmy Diamond, who said he now can’t sell his home because it’s worthless, added, “The builder probably didn’t even know he was putting in bad product. But it still (stinks) that we tried to sell this house and couldn’t because of this drywall.”
Source: http://www.palmbeachpost.com/business/content/business/epaper/2009/03/27/a1a_drywall_0328.html
Probes into Chinese drywall mount, but yield few answers for homeowners
By ALLISON ROSS
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Friday, March 27, 2009
BOYNTON BEACH — Jimmy Diamond says he was flying high back in 2005. He and his wife had good jobs. They had just purchased a two-story, $600,000 home in an upscale Boynton Beach neighborhood.
But now Diamond rubs his face and laughs tiredly when asked what his plans for the future are.
We have no plan,” Diamond said. “All I know is I’m screwed because I can’t sell my house.”
The Diamonds, who had lined up a buyer for their home, discovered that the development they live in, Cobblestone Creek, has houses with tainted Chinese drywall.
“We had to tell the buyer,” Diamond said. “They backed out the next day.”
The Chinese drywall controversy is snowballing: Investigators from the Consumer Product Safety Commission were in West Florida on Thursday testing homes with the suspect plasterboard. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection is testing to determine whether the material can safely be tossed into landfills. And the Florida attorney general’s office has launched an investigation into Chinese drywall manufacturer Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin Co. – a subsidiary of German company Knauf Gips KG – and drywall distributor L&W Supply Corp. – a subsidiary of U.S.-based USG Corp. – to determine whether any deceptive practices may have occurred in sales or marketing of Chinese-made drywall.
Used extensively in rebuilding following the hurricanes of 2004 and during the housing boom, Chinese-made drywall was an alternative to the U.S. product, which was in short supply. However, Florida Department of Health guidelines suggest the problem could go back to 2000.
It’s now believed that the material is throwing off foul-smelling sulfuric gas when exposed to heat and humidity. Those gases are also suspected as the cause of corroding wires, pipes, home fixtures and even jewelry.
On Monday, the Florida Department of Health released preliminary results of tests of Chinese drywall that eventually should help determine whether the tainted drywall poses a health risk. The results showed higher levels of organic material and sulfuric compounds – particularly strontium sulfide – than U.S.-made plasterboard.
State toxicologist David Krause said several more tests need to be conducted.
In the meantime, homeowners are left to try to figure out for themselves what to do next.
Thursday night, a group of about 150 Boynton Beach homeowners gathered outside the Cobblestone Creek community’s clubhouse to hear a presentation from a group of lawyers.
Some knew they had drywall in their homes; some weren’t sure. Others were simply scared.
“We put our life savings in this house,” said Tonya Radi, a resident in Cobblestone Creek who moved in about eight months ago. “This is the house we thought we’d live in for the next 20 years. What if it’s not healthy? I’m pregnant right now. Or what if people move out, what will that do to my (homeowners association) fees?”
A number of homeowners in the section of Cobblestone Creek built by developer Northstar Homes have complained of air conditioning coils that failed, strange odors and tarnished jewelry. A few have torn out pieces of the drywall in their attic to find the name of a Chinese drywall manufacturer printed on the back, they said.
Northstar did not return calls for comment
State and federal authorities are helping to find answers for homeowners, but all say that answers may be a long time coming.
A team of investigators – including an electrical engineer and a toxicologist – from the Consumer Product Safety Commission was in Southwest Florida beginning Thursday, testing affected homes for electrical corrosion risks and health risks associated with the drywall, commission spokesman Joe Martyak confirmed.
He said he didn’t know whether the investigators would soon be looking at homes in Palm Beach County or the Treasure Coast, where state officials have received reports.
“The government doesn’t know enough to give us an answer about whether this is safe or not, so I’m not going to put my children at risk,” said Alli Sirota, a Cobblestone Creek homeowner.
She has two small children and another one on the way, she said, and so she and her husband are hiring movers to move into a temporary place.
“I just need to get out,” she said. “I need to think about this one small step at a time or I will go nuts.”
Jimmy Diamond, who said he now can’t sell his home because it’s worthless, added, “The builder probably didn’t even know he was putting in bad product. But it still (stinks) that we tried to sell this house and couldn’t because of this drywall.”